Four myths about being fat
A look at four popular myths about being fat and why being a few extra kilos heavier isn’t always as bad as you think.
A look at four popular myths about being fat and why being a few extra kilos heavier isn’t always as bad as you think.
FOR many, the letters F-A-T make up the most terrifying word in the English language.
Sure, there are much worse things that someone could be, but in our society, being fat is often seen as less attractive or desirable, less productive and even lazy, by potential employers.
Without a doubt, excess weight can be very bad. Carrying too much weight around the middle, especially, can increase your risk of cancer and heart disease, among a host of other lethal and incurable diseases.
But do chubby thighs and jelly-bellies always spell disaster? Is there a silver lining at all? Maybe. Today, we look at four popular myths about being fat and why being a few extra kilos heavier isn’t always as bad as you think.
While people who are overweight or obese are often labelled as over-eaters who have never heard of exercise, some experts argue that being heavily overweight is a genetic disorder.
One particular gene that’s been getting a lot of attention from this is FTO – the “fat” gene.
According to WebMD, scientists found that people with certain variants of FTO are 20% to 30% more vulnerable to becoming obese.
In short, if your parents are obese, you are more likely to be obese too.
But that doesn’t mean you will certainly be obese without question.
Many people with obesity in their families maintain a healthy weight, and you can fight the odds with a healthy diet and an active lifestyle.
In today’s fast-paced environment, many of us are guilty of lessthan-ideal eating habits.
Fast food and take-outs for instance, have become staples for many city folks.
The unfair part is, some of us tend to get heavier or are more predisposed to weight gain than others. So just because someone is a little chubbier than the rest doesn’t automatically make them a compulsive overeater or exercise-averse.
It is also entirely possible for a naturally thin person to be a couch potato and for a heavier person to be doing CrossFit several times a week while following the Paleo diet.
The reason for this is because all bodies are different (and there’s nothing wrong with that), and the relationship between health and weight is often complex.
Factors like age, gender, genetics and underlying conditions all contribute to the number on our scales, so there’s no telling exactly what someone’s diet and exercise habits are like just by looking at them.
Surprise, surprise – you can be fit AND fat at the same time!
A study done by the United States’ National Institutes of Health found that people who are overweight can also be considered healthy if their waist sizes fall within a healthy circumference – that’s less than 94cm (37 inches) for men, and 80cm (31.5 inches) for women.
However, this applied only if they do not have two or more of the following conditions: high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol levels.
But don’t start digging into that burger and fries just yet – the guidelines point out that people who are overweight and obese should avoid gaining additional weight, and should preferably work towards losing some.
Here’s the biggest shocker – people who are thin can be just as, if not more susceptible to health problems than their fatter counterparts.
A 2008 study by the University of Michigan found that about onefourth of adults in the United States with normal weight have some form of condition, such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.
Further, a 2013 study by the American Journal of Cardiology found that older adults with normal BMIs, but have high levels of body fat, are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and death than previously thought.
More recently, a 2014 study on people with “normal weight obesity” – meaning they had a normal BMI reading, but had high body fat – found that this group of people have a significantly higher risk of metabolic problems and death from these diseases than any other group, Time reported.
Arguably, it is more important to pay attention to one’s health and lifestyle habits than one’s weight.
Do you eat a nutritious diet? Do you exercise regularly? Do you make a healthy lifestyle your priority?
These questions are far more important than the numbers on the scale, which isn’t always an accurate marker of one’s health or vigour.
At the crux of the matter, it is one’s fitness, and not fatness, that really matters.